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French Somaliland (13)

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A brief history of French Somaliland: The colony of French Somaliland was established between 1883 and 1887 following treaties signed by the ruling Issa Somali and Afar Sultans with the French.
In 1958 a referendum was held to determine if French Somaliland should join the Somali Republic. The vote was in favour of remaining with France. However, there were reports of vote rigging with the French exporting thousands of Somalis before the referendum reached the polls. In 1967 a second referendum was held which was also favour of remaining with France. Again, there were reports of the French authorities deporting Somalis before the vote and also importing Afars from neighbouring countries to tip the odds in their favour. Following the referendum, there was civil unrest. During the same year, it was renamed to the French Territory of the Afars and the Issas to acknowledge the large Afar constituency and to downplay the significance of the Somali composition.
A decade later on the 27 June 1977 independence was gained and it was officially renamed as the Republic of Djibouti.